UK egg producers reinvent the egg box

The humble egg box is to be given a new look in the UK in an effort to boost egg sales there and update the product's image.

Having remained virtually unchanged since the Second World War, eggs are to be sold in PET moulded boxes of seven cups instead of six in the biggest revamp the industry has ever seen.

Instead of being rectangular, the new boxes will be round, allowing the room for the extra cup. The packaging will allow space for one egg for each day of the week, a figure the industry wants to promote as the healthy amount to eat. Each compartment will be labelled with a different day of the week, in order to drive the message home. The new boxes are expected to hit British supermarket shelves in the course of the next week.

But the marketing gurus behind the change may need to walk on eggshells to convince traditionalists to change from their old-style boxes.

Andrew Parker, the chairman of the British Egg Industry Council, said: "There's no real reason why we should be buying eggs in boxes of six when there are seven days in the week.

"It might surprise shoppers, but they'll get used to it."

Although some 30 million eggs are consumed each day in the UK, the British Egg Information Service says that there are a number of "old house wives' tales"​ which are holding back further sales growth. These relate to consumers' perceptions of the correct number of eggs that can be safely eaten in a week and to safety issues, all of which the BEIC are trying to redress.

It is hoped that the move towards the new packaging will also help draw attention to the BEIC's claims that one egg a day - as opposed to previous government campaigns advising people to eat no more than three eggs a week - is now deemed to be the healthier option.

Whether or not the idea takes off in the rest of Europe remains to be seen, but as the UK market has come to be known as being more receptive to changes in food and food packaging, it will probably make excellent testing ground for the idea.